CAT is a high pressure exam for many, and how to cope is probably a key determinant for cracking this exam. For a lucky few there is no great pressure and this is just another exam to have a go at. If you are one of that brigade, you should probably even skip this article and stay in that carefree bubble. No point thinking and reading about pressure and panic, and planting seeds into the brain.
Quite a few students freeze during the exam, a select few even entertain thoughts of not taking the exam at all. And a great many become slightly fearful and lose some of the ‘josh’ that needs to be present.
Following are the points that you must take:
- Never stress yourself by studying too much till the end of the day. Mind gets tired and restless.
- Never get frustrated with your coaching results. I know most of my friends who have cleared CAT with me used to just perform averagely in the coaching tests. Don’t take criticism seriously. Just be cool and remember, keep on practicing till the last day of the examination. Don’t get demotivated.
- Do effective study planning and solve a good number of quality problems. Don’t worry of results. As you keep on doing so, automatically your brain starts to adapt such questions and you will be able handle such problems with ease.
- Always worry little about your time. Always concentrate during your classes and never try to doze off. Concepts must be clear and that should be your main motive.
- Don’t start a new topic:“This is the time to just re-visit your basic fundamentals, formulas and derivations, revise what you’ve already studied over the last one year, don’t go running behind new topics”. Taking up a completely new topic in the last few days will only confuse you further, leading to a panic situation. It is better to be completely confident about the things you know than to walk into the examination hall with incomplete information about a new topic. “Just review your class notes, key concepts/formulas and nothing further. Don’t study too hard in these last days; you cannot do in one day what you could not do in two years”.
- Revisit the important topics:“Some important topics that need to be revised. If you’ve had the practice of maintaining flash cards of the important topics, theorems, equations etc., now would be the time to revisit them and refresh your memory.
- Make mistakes!: “Make all the mistakes that you possibly can in the last few days while you practice mock papers. This will ensure that you don’t repeat these mistakes when you take the actual exam”, This is similar to the exercise of facing your fears head on! You might as well make those silly mistakes while you can afford to. So if you fumble while taking mock CAT papers, don’t get flustered. These mistakes will ensure that you don’t repeat them on D-day.
- Previous years’ CAT papers:“Go through the CAT question papers of the last five years. It’s not necessary to go beyond five years, as the pattern of CAT changed dramatically after 2008.” Solving previous years’ CAT question papers will prepare you psychologically to face CAT with more confidence, as you’ve already tested the waters with the last years’ papers.
- Tune your biological clock:If you’re used to studying in the wee hours of the night and sleeping throughout the day, it’s time to reverse your body clock! In the last week leading to CAT, make sure that you are up and about during the time the exam is scheduled, otherwise you’re bound to feel sleepy while writing the test! We advise eight hours of sleep (10pm to 6 am), six to eight hours of study (to be reduced to only six hours in the last week to match the time of the exam and No study on the day before the exam). “Stop studying in the night at least in the last week, your CAT papers are scheduled in two slots. Try to take mock papers exactly during these timings under conditions similar to the actual examination day. This will ensure that you are not under pressure on the D-day”.
- Rest and relax:Watch a movie, go jogging, play a game of football, meditate or practice yoga – indulge in any of these or other activities that would relax and calm you.
Again don’t take much pressure. Plan intelligently and implement it accordingly.
